Fountain pen filler construction



T. M.-ERMEL 3,100,477

FOUNTAIN PEN FILLER CONSTRUCTION Aug. 13, 1963 Filed June 13, 1961 0 28 52 y- 1 Fig, 2 76 a 3,100,477 Patented Aug- 13, 1963 3,100,477 FOUNTAIN PEN FILLER CONSTRUCTION Thomas M. Ermel, Kingston, Pa. (44 Virginia Terrace, Forty Fort, Pa.) Filed June 13, 19 61, Ser. No. 116,838 5 Claims. (Cl. 120-424) This invention relates to writing devices, particularly to ball point type fountain pens.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a fountain pen of a conventional ball point by using a liquid ink rather than the conventional paste type ink. The liquid ink more easily and readily penetrates the writing surface thereby producing lines which are more sharply defined and more readily visible.

It is another object of the invention to provide a ball type fountain pen having a refillable cartridge which is removable from the pen and contains a valve at the end of the cartridge opposite from the writing end which permits the cartridge to be easily and readily refilled.

It is another object of the invention to provide a balltype fountain pen having a flexible reservoir which may be easily refilled by merely collapsing the reservoir manually whereby when it is released, it automatically expands thereby creating a vacuum therein for sucking in a fresh supply of ink.

It is another object of the invention to provide a fountain penwhich may be easily refilled without requiring wiping or cleaning of excess ink from any of the parts of the pen. r

It is still another object of this invention to provide a wall 42. The tubular portion 40 of the cartridge snugly ball type fountain pen which has novel means for feeding ink to the writing ball and eliminate air bubbles therefrom.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a The upper portion 16 of the barrel has a rounded top 26 having a circular central bore 28 therein.

Slidably extending through the bore 28 is an operating plunger comprising a rod 30 of circular cross-section, and which is secured at its lower end to any conventional operating device such as a friction shoe or cup 32. The friction shoe 32 as shown more clearly in FIG- URE 5 comprises a cylindrical cup-shaped member secured at its center to the plunger rod 30 and having an annular flange extending radially outwardly from one edge thereof. The shoe 3-2 and the annular flange contain a plurality of circumferentially spaced slots 34 which divide the flange into a plurality of friction fingers 36. The outer diameter of the circle defined by the fingers 36 is normally greater than the inside diameter of the barrel portion 16. When the shoe 3 2 is inserted into the barrel, the fingers 36 must be pressed inwardly so as to reduce the size of the slots 34, and the inherent resiliency of the shoe urges the friction fingers 36 into frictional engagement with the inner peripheral surface of the upper barrel portion 16. Due to the frictional engagement between the fingers 36 and the barrel portion 16, the shoe 36 therefore tends to remain in a fixed position relative to the portion '16.

The barrel assembly 10 contains a flexible cartridge 38 composed of resilient material, suchas polyethylene fountain pen cartridge which may be refilled without inserting any portion thereof deeply into a supply of ink.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a ball type fountain pen which is of simple design, economical to manufacture, durable in use, and requires a minimum of maintenance.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross sectional view through the center of my novel fountain pen;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical view partially in section showing the removable cartridge in the process ofbeing refilled;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the upper end of the cartridge showing the refilling valves in operation;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of the writing end of the removable cartridge; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of FIGURE 1 showing the cartridge substantially filled with ink.

Referring to the drawings, it.can be seen that my fountain pen comprises a housing or barrel assembly 10 which includes a lower cylindrical portion 12 whose upper end is threaded at 14 and screws into the threaded interior of the upper barrel portion 16. The threaded portion 14 is of reduced diameter so that it forms an an nul-ar shoulder 18 which abuts the lower end of the upper portion 16 whereby the two barrel portions 12 and 16 have a continuously smooth outer surface even where they are joined together. A conventional resilient clip 20 is secured to the upper portion 16 by conventional means such as a reduced portion 22 which extends through a hole in the barrel and is flanged over at 24.

plastic or rubber, and which tends to return of its own accord to a cylindrical shape as shown in FIGURE 1. The cartridge 38 has a reduced tubular end portion 40 connected to its lower end by means of an annular end receives an inner reduced portion 44 of a tube 46, and abuts the annular shoulder 48 thereof. Preferably, the portion 40 is expanded by the reduced tubular portion 44 so as to form a seal therebetween. The lower end of the tube 46 has a part spherical recess 50 therein which rotatably receives and retains a rotatable ball 5-2. A rod 54 of substantially smaller diameter than the inside diameter of the tube 46 is slidably mounted therein and of a length so as to project beyond the upper end of the tube. Any conventional means may be provided for permitting the rod 54 to move relative to the tube without separating therefrom. For example, the rod 54 may contain an elongated slot 56 with a pin 58 extending through the slot and fixed at its ends to the inside wall of the tube 46.

The upper end of the cartridge 38 is provided with a part conical wall 60 which connects the cartridge to a refill sleeve or filler neck 62.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 3, the refill sleeve 62 contains a valve element shaped like a dumbell. This valve element comprises a bar 64 connected at its ends to two balls 66 and =68. The ball 68 is designed to seat on an annular edge 70 so as to. form a valve for sealing the sleeve 62. It is desirable to prevent the ball 66 from sealing the other end of the sleeve, therefore, some means is provided for preventing sealing contact between the ball and sleeve. This means may comprise grooves, not shown, in said other end of the sleeve 62 or small spherical bumps or projections 72 peripherally spaced around the sleeve for preventing contact between the ball 66 and the sleeve.

The lower end of the barrel section 12 is bullet-shaped and has a central axial bore 74 formed in its lower end. The bore 74 slidably receives the lower end of the tube 46. A coil spring 76 surrounds the tubular member 46, reacts against the bullet-shaped end of the section 12, and the upper end of the spring reacts against the annular end wall 42' so as to urge the cartridge 38 upwardly. This forces the ball member 68 against the lower surface of the shoe 32, which in turn forces the ball 68 in sealing When using the fountain pen, the ball point 52 may be retracted merely by grabbing the barrel 12 in one hand and pressing downwardly thereon so as to force the ball 52 tightly into engagement with a rigid surface, whereby the entire cartridge is moved upwardly into the barrel by causing the friction shoe 32 to slip within the barrel. To extend the ball point 52 from the barrel, it is only necessary to press downwardly on the plunger 30. The friction between the friction fingers 3'6 and the inner surface of the barrel section 16 nonma-lly prevents relative movement between the cartridge and the barrel.

'Io refill the iountain pen, it is only necessary to unscrew the upper barrel portion 16 from the lower barrel portion 12. After the barrel sections 16 and 12 are separated, the cartridge 38 may be grabbed in one hand as shown in FIGURE 2 and inverted. To refill the cartridge, the operator then collapses the side walls thereof by squeezing it so as to force all the air therein out of the cartridge by means of the refill sleeve 62. The detents 7 2 prevent the ball 66 from sealing the sleeve so that the air may flow freely therefrom. The operator then inserts the lower end of the sleeve 62 within an ink supply such as an ink bottle 82. 'The operator then slightly releases the collapsing pressure on the cartridge, whereby its Walls expand and suck the ink upwardly through the refill sleeve 62 as shown by the arrowsin FIGURE 3. When the sleeve is substantially filled with ink, it is again orientated to its original position and installed within the barrel 10 in a conventional manner. By oscillating or the fountain pen assembly back and forth about a horizontal axis extending normal the barrel 10', the rod 54 may be made to slide back and forth thereby causing air bubbles to flow out of the circular passageway 47 of the tube 46 so that it may become partially filled with ink.

During use of the fountain pen, and as the ink supply 80 drops, the volume of the ink may be replaced by air entering the upper end of the cartridge 38. Normally, the seal between the ball 68 and the seat 70 will not be pertact so as to permit a slow seepage of airthereby.

It is to be noted that when the pen is in the normal writing position, the valve 68, 70 is closed by gravity acting on the valve assembly 64, 66, 68 in addition to the pressure exerted on the valve by the member 32'. Also, when the oar-tnidge is inverted, the valve will be opened by gravity acting on the members 66, 68 64.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, iialling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A fountain pen comprising a barrel having openings in its ends, a tubular liquid ink cartridge mounted for reciprocation in the barrel, a writing point on one end of the cantridge slidable in the corresponding opening, a filler neck on the other end of the cartridge, a plunger mounted for sliding adjustment in the other opening, resilient means in the barrel for sliding the cartridge toward the plunger, and a control valve for the filler neck mounted therein and engageable with the plunger for actuation thereby to closed position in response to actuation of the cartridge by said resilient means, said valve including a bar operable longitudinally in-the filler neck, and balls of a diameter exceeding that of the filler neck, fixed on the ends of said bar, one of said balls being sea-table in the outer end pontion of the filler neck for closing same, together with means in the cartridge for preventing the other ball-from seating in the inner end portion of the filler neck.

2. A 'fountain pen in accordance with claim 1, said writing point including a tube on the cartridge communicating therewith for receivin g ink therefrom, and a writing ball journaled in the outer end portion of said tube.

3. A fountain pen in accordance with claim 2, said resilient means including a coil spring in the barrel encircling the tube and, engaged under tension with said one end of the cartridge.

4. A fountain pen in accordance with claim 2, said writing point further including a rod loosely mounted for sliding movement in the tube and engageable with the writing ball, and means for retaining said rod in the tube.

5. A fountain pen in accordance with claim 4, the lastnamed means including a pin mounted diametrically in the tube, said rod having a longitudinal slot therein receiving said pin. 1

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Germany, P17, 857 X/D, Oct. 31, 1956.

.France Apr. 9, 1956 

1. A FOUNTAIN PEN COMPRISING A BARREL HAVING OPENINGS IN ITS ENDS, A TUBULAR LIQUID INK CARTRIDGE MOUNTED FOR RECIPROCATION IN THE BARREL, A WRITING POINT ON ONE END OF THE CARTRIDGE SLIDABLE IN THE CORRESPONDING OPENING, A FILLER NECK ON THE OTHER END OF THE CARTRIDGE, A PLUNGER MOUNTED FOR SLIDING ADJUSTMENT IN THE OTHER OPENING, RESILIENT MEANS IN THE BARREL FOR SLIDING THE CARTRIDGE TOWARD THE PLUNGER, AND A CONTROL VALVE FOR THE FILLER NECK MOUNTED THEREIN AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE PLUNGER FOR ACTUATION THEREBY TO CLOSED POSITION IN RESPONSE TO ACTUATION OF THE 